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Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

And Job said,

And Job spake, and said,

"May the day on which I was to be born perish, As well as the night which said, 'A boy is conceived.'

Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.

"May that day be darkness; May God above not care for it, Nor light shine on it.

Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.

"May darkness and black gloom claim it; May a cloud settle on it; May the blackness of the day terrify it.

Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

"As for that night, may darkness seize it; May it not rejoice among the days of the year; May it not come into the number of the months.

As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.

"Behold, may that night be barren; May no joyful shout enter it.

Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.

"May those curse it who curse the day, Who are prepared to disturb Leviathan.

Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.

"May the stars of its twilight be darkened; May it wait for light but have none, And may it not see the breaking dawn;

Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:

Because it did not shut the opening of my mother's womb, Or hide trouble from my eyes.

Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.

"Why did I not die at birth, Come out of the womb and pass away?

Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

"Why were the knees there in front of me, And why the breasts, that I would nurse?

Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?

"For now I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept then, I would have been at rest,

For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

With kings and counselors of the earth, Who rebuilt ruins for themselves;

With kings and counsellors of the earth, which build desolate places for themselves;

Or with rulers who had gold, Who were filling their houses with silver.

Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:

"Or like a miscarriage which is hidden, I would not exist, As infants that never saw light.

Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.

"There the wicked cease from raging, And there the weary are at rest.

There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.

"The prisoners are at ease together; They do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.

There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.

"The small and the great are there, And the slave is free from his master.

The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.

"Why is light given to one burdened with grief, And life to the bitter of soul,

Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;

Who long for death, but there is none, And dig for it more than for hidden treasures;

Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;

Who are filled with jubilation, And rejoice when they find the grave?

Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?

"Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, And whom God has shut off?

Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?

"For my groaning comes at the sight of my food, And my cries pour out like water.

For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.

"For what I fear comes upon me, And what I dread encounters me.

For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

"I am not at ease, nor am I quiet, And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes."

I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.